ONE POND.
ALMOST 20 SCREENS.
Melrose Koi is a fractured 30 m² LED pond suspended above guests at Hometown in Melrose Park. The display uses almost 20 separate clusters of high-resolution, high-refresh-rate screens.
Each cluster was built from a custom, highly durable LED module system made for the geometry and daily demands of the venue.
THE WATER DOESN’T KNOW
WHERE THE PANELS END.
The environment is rendered at 5000 × 5000 pixels. That oversized canvas accounts for every gap and offset between the clusters, so a fish leaves one screen and enters the next at the right place and speed.
The engine can also span different planes: ceiling, wall, floor, horizontal or vertical. It is not tied to one screen shape.
EVERY FISH
HAS A LIFE.
Software developed with Sakana Studios ↗ runs the live water and fish simulation. The environment changes over the course of the day. Each koi is born, grows and moves through a life cycle. Its markings are generated when it spawns, so no two fish are identical.
The pond includes more than 20 true-to-life koi varieties and native Australian birdsong. Automated feeding events happen throughout the day: food hits the surface and the koi gather to eat.
BUILT FOR MORE
THAN ONE VERSION.
DMX and OSC control allow the pond to synchronise with lighting scenes, events and marketing activations. Day-and-night cycles, falling leaves, foliage and seasonal elements can be scheduled or triggered.
A touch-to-feed system exists in the software but was not used here because the screens are on the ceiling. The same engine can support visitor stations where a guest designs a koi and releases it into the pond.
IT TURNS
ITSELF ON.
The entire hardware and software stack runs on ICG’s in-house media servers. We build our own fleet so the hardware stays consistent and the software can be engineered against a known system.
The installation starts itself, runs without an operator and returns to playback after a power interruption or software fault. Since handover, ICG has not needed to attend the site for a service call.